The other day I went to a meeting to learn how to be a more effective blogger by answering questions that relate to the kind of work you do. When it was my turn to listen to questions people had about my work, one of them was simply "What makes a good story?"I knew right away that I wanted to talk about character and conflict and themes... and I will do that in more detail in the next few blog posts. But this morning, I was checking my Facebook when I saw that my brother Chris (The Smits Brothers) had posted a video to his page. I don't always watch videos that he posts - he's a professional trainer and trains supermodels and Olympic class athletes. Most of his videos have to do with training and athletics, 90% of which I could NEVER even dream of doing (no snowboarding for me!) I spend most of my day BIC (butt in chair). I have the physique to go along with it. But that's another story... Good story, in my opinion, does three things (and I learned this from Pulitzer prize winner Jacqui Bananszynski) :It informs people It entertains peopleand it connects people So why am I sharing this video? Because it is an example of "good story." See if you can find how this story accomplishes all three of those things and apply those principles to your writing. You can write "good story."

Everyone loves a good story. Whether it's a "true story" or just one that rings true, story is central to our lives. Through the ages, indeed, since the time that humanity was able to vocalize and share a telling of something that happened, story has been central to all of us. Story unites us, informs us, and transforms us. Through this blog, I'll be discussing some of the elements of story, how to tell stories, and share some stories (and things about masterful storytellers) too. My hope is that you'll come back and read this to get some tips to help you tell your story, learn about story, and be part of ourstory (not his-story or her-story).